ISSN 2360-7955
Abstract
Accepted 3rd November, 2016
It is understandable that floral diversity is of immense benefits to mankind. Yet it has been squandered in such a magnitude that most of the species are going extinct if not properly managed. The objective of the study was to examine those factors that lead to the degradation of floral diversity in Boki. Three agrarian communities in the unprotected forest area of Boki were sampled for the study. This was based on the nature of the anthropogenic activities that take place in these communities. A total of 150 copies of questionnaire were distributed to each household head in the study area. Each of the communities had 50 copies of questionnaire. The content of the questionnaire was based essentially on the demographic characteristics of respondents, the causes of degradation of floral diversity, fallow period for farming, duration of involvement in fuelwood business. Also, a survey of 5 farms in each of the communities was undertaken with the view to determining the level of damage caused by fire to floral diversity. Descriptive statistics was used for the analysis of this data. The result of the study indicated that logging, farming, fuelwood gathering and bush burning are the major causes for the degradation of floral diversity. It was also discovered that there is high demand for certain floral species for timber and fuelwood owing to their relative scarcity due to over exploitation. There was also a great damage to the morphology of most floral species due to fire incidence.
Keywords: Assessment, Anthropogenic, Degradation, Diversity, Agrarian, Communities.